Why not let pharmacists treat patients?

Pharmacists in the US go to school for eight years and then become glorified bean counters, filling prescriptions by hand that could be done better, faster and cheaper by machines. Now Great Britain is letting them treat patients without a physician:

While many countries are slowly loosening the rules on non-doctors giving out medicines, none has given pharmacists as much power as Britain has in its effort to increase services and cut costs to a financially overburdened health system. ...

Last week, Britain issued a new government strategy to strengthen the role of pharmacists even further. According to the proposal, pharmacists will be the first port of call for certain ailments (colds, minor stomach and skin problems). That will save doctors 57 million consultations a year, officials said. In the near future, the government also hopes pharmacists will routinely screen people for vascular and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as giving vaccinations.